Join band specialists Kent White, Ken Tilger, and Kris Lehman, “The Jazz Guy” Ben Huntoon, as well as technology guru/computer ninja David Ginter and Stanton’s Sheet Music President Eric Strouse at McCormick Place, Booth #1227. Browse and shop hundreds of titles for wind band, orchestra, jazz ensemble, and solo & ensemble, gift items, and more while taking advantage of their combined 100+ years of sheet music expertise. Trivia and useless knowledge provided free of charge!

About the Author:Ken is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. Besides music, he geeks out on comic books, amusement parks, hockey, and all things Pittsburgh. He’s excited to get NHLTV for Christmas so he can watch the Penguins – Let’s Go Pens!

We know you have many choices when it comes to purchasing sheet music, so we want to take the opportunity to highlight just a few of the many reasons why Stanton’s is the best place to buy music for your school, church, private studio or personal use!

While a number of directors visit us on Saturdays or professional days throughout the school year, and some make a summer pilgrimage from nearby states, it is also not unusual for us to see a school bus full of students pull into our parking lot about once or twice a year (don’t worry, we only cower briefly). After a quick “lay-of-the-land” tour, we are happy to turn students loose to shop, and they are welcome to take advantage of our first-hand musical knowledge, as well.

Preparations for solo & ensemble adjudicated events provide a perfect opportunity to introduce your students to Stanton’s. What a great use of time, and a unique experience for the students! Besides finding their solo or ensemble piece with some guidance from their teacher, they are also free to check out a whole host of method and etude books, pop play-alongs, and holiday collections that are on-hand as well.

We often hear from educators who have moved on to other states that they do not have a music supplier like Stanton’s even within driving distance, and many stores do not let customers freely browse all of their titles. Besides having directors take advantage of stopping by the store, what can be better than bringing aspiring musicians (and tomorrow’s teachers!) to musical Candy Land!?

For more details or questions, please visit us online at www.stantons.com, or give us a call at 1-800-42-MUSIC!

If you are reading this, you are probably a musician or associate with musicians. When you are a musician or hang with musicians, you begin to think that everyone is probably involved in music in one way or another. But, we musicians are really a fairly finite group of people.

It has been speculated that if you were to gather all people in the United States who make their living in the music industry (whether creating it, performing it, recording it, writing it, teaching it, publishing it, selling it, making and repairing instruments that play it etc), you would end up with about the same amount of people as are employed by the Kellogg’s Company – you know, the cereal and snack food folks. Yeah – a pretty finite group!

It seems unlikely that anyone involved in this tight-knit music community would intentionally keep their fellow musicians from trying to make a living. And yet, that’s what you do when you copy sheet music without permission. Sheet music is property – like a trumpet, violin or a microphone – but it’s intellectual property, which can be a bit nebulous. Basically, only the Copyright Holder has the “right” to “copy” their work. When you copy music without permission from the copyright holder, you are actually stealing it.

When you copy music without a second thought, that means the music is not being sold. Consequently, the music retailer and all their employees lose income, the music publisher and all their employees lose income, and, perhaps most tragically, the composer loses income. Your fellow musicians are being deprived of their ability to make a living.

So not only are you breaking the law by copying music, you are keeping your brothers and sisters in this finite musical community from doing what they love to do: be a musician. If they can’t make a living at it, they may have to leave and do something else. And the musical world becomes an even smaller place.

So don’t copy music without permission – it’s not only illegal, it’s immoral. Let’s make sure the livelihood of our music community is secure so we can all continue to make music – that thing we love to do!

About the Author:Dan C. has worked at Stanton’s since 1979, primarily with orchestra music and print promotions. A “working” musician, he’s a classical cellist, a rock & jazz bassist and a folk & country guitarist/singer. His free time is spent with family or reading, gardening, cycling and working puzzles. His series of musical puzzles (RP3 Rebus Puzzle Picture People) can be found on the Stanton’s Facebook page each Sunday. He also has a reputation as a pretty good joke teller. Seriously.

We’re 1 week away from the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and in addition to the numerous toys, action figures, shirts, collectibles, and other merchandise that you’re scooping up don’t forget to program some music from Star Wars on your spring concert or grab an instrumental play-along for you or someone you love. Below are the currently available, best-selling concert band arrangements and solo collections for winds and strings. We will update this post as new releases become available – the score to The Force Awakens is just recently finished, so arrangements and play-alongs featuring any new music have yet to be determined (and receive John Williams’ sign-off).
If you want to geek out on more Star Wars goodness, check out IGN’s helpful guide to what is now canon, and recent episodes of the Assemble After Dark podcast featuring Episodes I-VI.

Star Wars for Concert Band*New for 2016!*
Star Wars Heroesarr. Jerry BrubakerThis new arrangement has been announced, but is not yet available for order.Celebrate the heroes with some of the most beloved music from Star Wars Episodes I-VI! This stunning medley arranged by Jerry Brubaker includes Star Wars (Main Title), Luke and Leia, Battle of the Heroes, Han Solo and the Princess, and The Throne Room.

Star Wars (Main Theme)arr. Carl Strommen
Belwin Beginning Band
Grade 1 $56.00
One of the most recognizable movie themes ever written, John Williams’ explosive theme from Star Wars is made accessible to very young musicians in this Carl Strommen arrangement.

Highlights from the Star Wars Sagaarr. Paul Cook
Belwin Young Band
Grade 2 $70.00
Great music from the motion pictures Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Composer John Williams’ genius shows in this very playable montage of Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme), Princess Leia’s Theme, Cantina Band, Han Solo and the Princess, and Star Wars (Main Theme).

Selections from the Star Wars Sagaarr. Michael Story
Belwin Young Band
Grade 2.5 $67.00
Michael Story has expertly selected and arranged titles from Episodes I-VI of the Star Wars films for young band including: Star Wars (Main Title), Cantina Band, Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme), Augie’s Great Municipal Band, Across the Stars, and Battle of the Heroes.

Star Wars – The Marchesarr. Jerry Brubaker
Belwin Concert Band
Grade 3 $77.00
John Williams created so many stunning marches to accompany the Star Wars motion pictures that they had to be combined in one powerful piece. The arrangement features: Star Wars (Main Theme), Parade of the Ewoks, Imperial March, Augie’s Great Municipal Band, and The Throne Room.

Suite from the Star Wars Epic – Part Iarr. Robert W. Smith
Belwin Concert Band
Grade 3.5 $80.00
A serious collection of the most recognized John Williams themes from the Star Wars prequels, the Suite from the Star Wars Epic – Part I contains three movements: Duel of the Fates (from The Phantom Menace), Across the Stars (from Attack of the Clones) and Revenge of the Sith (from Revenge of the Sith).

Suite from the Star Wars Epic – Part IIarr. Robert W. Smith
Belwin Concert Band
Grade 3.5 $82.00
A serious collection of the most recognized John Williams themes from the original Star Wars trilogy, the Suite from the Star Wars Epic – Part II contains three movements: Princess Leia’s Theme (from A New Hope), Imperial March/The Forest Battle (from The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi), and, of course, the Star Wars (Main Theme).

Star Wars Solo CollectionsStar Wars: A Musical JourneyEpisodes I – VI$12.99Star Wars: A Musical Journey includes selections from all six Star Wars movies. The wind instrument arrangements in this series are completely compatible with each other and can be played together or as solos, however they are not compatible with the string collections in this series. Each book contains a carefully edited part that is appropriate for the Level 2-3 player and a fully orchestrated accompaniment CD that includes a instrumental demo track followed by the play-along accompaniment track. Also included is both 4-color and black and white art from the movies.

The Star Wars TrilogyEpisodes IV – VI$12.95
These instrumental editions are completely compatible with each other and can be played together or as solos. Melodic ranges and rhythms are carefully considered for each instrument so every tune is easily accessible to all players. This collection includes music from the original trilogy not available in Star Wars: A Musical Journey – Ben’s Death/TIE Fighter Attack, Han Solo and the Princess, Yoda’s Theme, Luke and Leia, Parade of the Ewoks, The Emperor Arrives, and Victory Celebration. Please note that no play-along tracks or piano accompaniment book are available for this collection.

Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III$14.95
Part of an instrumental series arranged for Flute, Clarinet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Horn in F, and Trombone, these arrangements are completely compatible with each other and can be played together or as solos. Each book contains a carefully edited part that is appropriate for the Level 2-3 player and a fully orchestrated accompaniment CD. Each song on the CD includes a demo track, which features a live instrumental performance, followed by the Play-along accompaniment track.

About the Author:Ken is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. He finds it very hard to believe that The Force Awakens will be the first Star Wars movie he’s seen on the big screen – especially having been born in 1977. He also wonders if the R2-D2 and C-3PO action figures that he and his brother had still exist somewhere in his parents’ basement.

In the fall when school cranks back up, Stanton’s gets a huge increase in the number of phone calls and emails requesting all kinds of things. And with so many communications there is naturally an increase in requests, questions and comments that make you go, “Really?!?” Such as:

“I’ve got a high school brass trio that wants to go to Solo and Ensemble competition.
We’re in a state with no required list we have to follow.
The students want to play Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. Do you have that for brass trio?” [Really?!?]

“Do you know of any pieces for Alp Horn and Band?” [Really?!?]

“I need a copy of the piano piece Fur Elise by Beethoven – but I need it for harmonica!” [Really?!?]

We’ve mentioned the escalating request in previous blogs. Here’s a recent one:
“I need music for a saxophone quartet” (Okay…)
“To be featured with a concert band” (Ummm…)
“On a Christmas piece!” (Yow!)

Then there are the ones that just make you scratch your head…

“I’m waiting as fast as I can for a Purchase Order number to come from our treasurer.” [How fast can you wait?!?]

“Do you folks carry trumpet muzzles?” [actually, what a great idea!]

Trying to read a teacher’s writing, a customer asked for the Hal Leonard “Interception” book. We knew he meant “Intermediate” and also figured he’s a football fan!

Recent email:
Customer Question – “I have an extensive collection of sheet music. Do you purchase at all?”
Stanton’s Reply – “WE have an extensive collection of sheet music. Do YOU purchase at all?”
After that tongue-in-cheek wisecrack, the employee then went on to explain a bit about how the retail sheet music business works.

Here are a few phone conversations:
Customer: “I found an item I need on your website. The catalog number is HB01”
Stanton’s employee, upon typing the number into the computer and finding that it is a very popular method book for horn by Fred Teuber: “Oh yes – the Teuber book.”
Customer: “No, I think it’s for French Horn!”

Customer with a pronounced southern accent: “I’m looking for Bob and Maria.” (at least that’s what it sounded like!)
Stanton’s employee: “I may not have heard you correctly – Bob and Maria?”
Customer: “No, A-V-E, Ave Maria.”
Stanton’s employee: “Oh, of course! I’m so sorry! Do you want the Bach/Gounod or the Schubert?” Customer: “Heck, I don’t know who writes ’em, I just play ’em!”

Let’s play Jeopardy…
The answer is:
“No sir, I don’t know which arrangement of Amazing Grace you just heard on the bus this morning.”
We’ll let you come up with the question! :)

Recently the band director from Versailles High School made the trip to Stanton’s via school bus (comfy!) and brought about 20 of her band students along. While she was previewing OMEA required concert band titles, her students were busy choosing their ownsolo and ensemble selections from our vast selection. What a great use of time, and a unique experience for the students! Besides finding their solo or ensemble piece with some guidance from their teacher, they were also free to check out a whole host of method and etude books, pop play-alongs, and holiday collections that were on-hand, as well. Honestly, one of the most satisfying feelings I get from state professional (MEA) conferences is seeing the high school all-state musicians excitedly finding repertoire that they want, books they have been recommended, and music just to play with their friends. It’s the ultimate treasure hunt!

Coffee = Truly budding musicians

While a number of directors visit us on Saturdays or professional days throughout the school year, and some make a summer pilgrimage from nearby states, it is not unusual for us to see a school bus full of students pull into our parking lot about once or twice a year (don’t worry, we only cower briefly). After a quick “lay-of-the-land” tour, we are happy to turn them loose to shop, and they are welcome to take advantage of our first-hand instrumental knowledge, as well. We often hear from educators who have moved on to other states that they do not have a music supplier like Stanton’s even within driving distance, and many do not let customers freely browse all of their titles. Besides having directors take advantage of stopping by the store, what can be better than bringing aspiring musicians (and tomorrow’s teachers!) to musical Candy Land!?

About the Author:Ken is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. He always feels the urge to read Edgar Allan Poe, the original novels featuring traditional Hollywood monsters, and other macabre tales this time of year, yet never does.

There’s always a little buzz of excitement in the Choral Department when a new piece by John Rutter comes across our desks. His works feel like old friends, even the first time you hear them – warm and comforting. With his 70th birthday in 2015, both Oxford University Press and Hinshaw Music are re-releasing a number of his most seminal compositions in new Anniversary Editions, with accompanying notes on both the music and performance written by Rutter himself.

Rutter’s work has strong footing in both the school and church choral markets, and an especially strong presence in the Christmas repertoire – his recordings with the Cambridge Singers are as Christmassy as the little drummer boy eating fruitcake!

Much of his secular music is less familiar, but equally well-crafted and memorable. Seeds Grow to Plantssets a lovely and thoughtful text about the cycle of life, and larger works such as When Icicles Hang and The Reluctant Dragon (which includes the charmingly funny Banquet Fugue) are refreshingly creative.

John Rutter was born in London in 1945 and received his first musical education as a chorister at Highgate School. He went on to study music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first published compositions and conducted his first recording while still a student. His compositional career has embraced both large and small-scale choral works, orchestral and instrumental pieces, a piano concerto, two children’s operas, music for television, and specialist writing for such groups as the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the King’s Singers. From 1975 to 1979 he was Director of Music at Clare College, whose choir he directed in a number of broadcasts and recordings. After giving up the Clare post to allow more time for composition, he formed the Cambridge Singers as a professional chamber choir primarily dedicated to recording, and he now divides his time between composition and conducting.

For more information about John Rutter and his music, please visit his website.

This article was originally posted Jan. 12th, 2015, and has been re-posted today in honor of the composer’s 70th birthday!

About the Author:Jen Sper has been with Stanton’s since 2006. A former middle school and high school choral director, and an active choral singer and accompanist throughout the Central Ohio area, she also enjoys eating good food, running (to counteract the good food!) and the Muppets.

One of the interesting phenomena in the retail sheet music business is the way that requests for music can sometimes go downhill fast as more focused criteria is added. Here are some actual Stanton’s customer requests that “went south” rather quickly. (If you’re wondering, sometimes we come up with a solution, sometimes we don’t. Click the picture to find out what we recommended.)

I need a children’s Christmas musical. (Great!)
It’s for church so it needs to be sacred. (Fine!)
The students range from 3rd to 12th grade. (Okay…)
It needs to have rap and hip-hop elements. (Yikes!)

I need an instrumental duet. (Great!)
It’s for adults, so it really needs to be advanced. (Fine!)
It’s for church, so it really should be sacred. (Okay…)
It needs to be written for oboe and viola. (Yikes!)

I need Flight of the Bumblebee. (Great!)
I need a version for flute. (Fine!)
It’s for a student. (Okay…)
It needs to be real easy. (Yikes!)

I need a solo for a college audition. (Great!)
I need it for snare drum. (Fine!)
It needs to come with a CD. (Okay…)
So I’ll know how it goes. (Yikes!)

I need a viola solo. (Great!)
It’s for a good player, so it needs to be advanced. (Fine!)
We want to feature the violist with our group, (Okay…)
Which is a community concert band. (Yikes!)

I need a piece for choir. (Great!)
I’d like some Gregorian chant. (Fine!)
It’s for a student group (Okay…)
of elementary school children. (Yikes!)

I need a song from The Muppet Movie (Great!)
It’s called Rainbow Connection. (Fine!)
I want to play it, not sing it. (Okay…)
Does it come in banjo tablature? (Yikes!)

I need a piece of violin music. (Great!)
It’s written by Fritz Kreisler. (Fine!)
My teacher didn’t tell me the title. (Okay…)
She said it’s the “famous one.” (Yikes!)

I need some incidental music for a church play. (Great!)
Something with flexible instrumentation (Fine!)
It needs to fit the time period of the play (Okay…)
Which is the Old Testament story of Ruth (Yikes!)

Dan Clark has worked at Stanton’s since 1979, primarily with orchestra music and print promotions. A “working” musician, he’s a classical cellist, a rock & jazz bassist and a folk & country guitarist/singer. His free time is spent with family or reading, gardening, cycling and working puzzles. His series of musical puzzles (RP3 Rebus Puzzle Picture People) can be found on the Stanton’s Facebook page each Sunday. He also has a reputation as a pretty good joke teller. Seriously.

G. Schirmer Violin Anthology – 24 Works from the 20th and 21st Centuries

recommended by Dan Clark, String Specialist

Do you have advanced students to whom you would like to introduce some “modern” composers without spending an arm and a leg on a sonata or concerto from a single writer? This new collection is for you! Subtitled “A Variety of Approachable Music for the Advanced Player” these are 24 short pieces or movements from larger works that have been gathered together for study and/or performance. Selections are from such prominent composers as Samuel Barber, Lili Boulanger, John Corigliano, Paul Creston, Bernard Heiden, Karel Husa, Charles Ives, Aram Khachaturian, Boruslav Martinu, Walter Piston, Andre Previn, Sergei Prokofiev, Bright Sheng, Augusta Read Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Joan Tower and others. There are also nine enthralling pages of notes about the pieces and their composers as well as the dates they were written and first performed, some even written by the composers themselves. Five of the pieces are unaccompanied, but the other 19 have a piano part included. The music is quite challenging as you might expect, but well worth working on, not only to learn some contemporary literature but also to open your students’ ears to modern melodic and harmonic concepts.

Dan Clark has worked at Stanton’s since 1979, primarily with orchestra music and print promotions. A “working” musician, he’s a classical cellist, a rock & jazz bassist and a folk & country guitarist/singer. His free time is spent with family or reading, gardening, cycling and working puzzles. His series of musical puzzles (RP3 Rebus Puzzle Picture People) can be found on the Stanton’s Facebook page each Sunday. He also has a reputation as a pretty good joke teller. Seriously.

Attention Violin Teachers! What might make violin students work a little harder on their etudes? How about providing a violin duet part for the teacher (or another student) to play along with the pupil? Since duets can be really fun to play, it will make preparing exercises more palatable, plus it will help improve your students’ intonation as they strive to play in tune with the duet part. This is standard violin pedagogical repertoire – Wohlfahrt’s 60 Studies, Op. 45 Book 1, Studies 1-30, so you certainly can’t argue with the methodology. The interesting violin duet accompaniments by Rachel Kelly (with 4 by Joshua Parman) are at about the same level of difficulty as the etudes themselves. A solo etude part and a double violin score for the duet accompaniment are included in the collection. Something old is new again!

Day 2 of the 2014 Midwest Clinic has come and gone, and it was quite an active day. The Stanton’s booth was busy, especially around mid-day with plenty of educators and students loading up on method books, solo and ensemble repertoire, and new concert pieces. One of my favorite aspects of working our booth is meeting directors that we don’t know, passing along our new band music promotions, and explaining our selection process.

Visitors to the Stanton’s booth included our good friend James Swearingen, FJH orchestra composer Lauren Bernofsky, and Hal Leonard arranger Johnnie Vinson. In addition, I had an engaging and enthusiastic conversation with Alfred composers Chris Bernotas and Vince Gassi. Band Education Specialist Kent White attended the session on Scale & Rhythm Chunks by Ohio’s own Richard Canter. It was standing room only with over 500 people attending his session, and we have all but sold out of the copies we had at the booth!

One of the other unique elements of The Midwest Clinic is the number of composers and arrangers on-hand. As mentioned above, I spent quite a bit of time today speaking with Chris Bernotas and Vince Gassi, as well as Randall Standridge, Grand Mesa president Walter Cummings, and FJH composers Travis Weller and Brian Balmages.

The “Barnhouse Party Bus,” on the way to dinner

Again our day was capped off with a fantastic meal, this time at Maggiano’s Little Italy courtesy of C.L. Barnhouse. It’s in a great historic building that probably dates to the 20’s. To our surprise Stanton’s along with RBC Music of Texas were honored with the presentation of the “Barney” Award in recognition of our long relationship in selling and promoting Barnhouse titles. A much appreciated and heartfelt presentation was given by James Swearingen. I also got to hear a number of fantastic (and hilarious) stories about Chuck Barnhouse since I was seated between Barnhouse president Andy Clark and Ed Peterson of Omega Recordings, the company that records the Washington Winds.

That’s all for today from The Windy City (or Gotham if you’re a fan of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy).

About the AuthorKen is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. He is thrilled to have had gelato and fantastic cheesecake for dessert over the past two nights! Seriously, Cheesecake Factory – meh.

Greetings from the exhibit hall at the 2014 Midwest Clinic! After a full day of set up on Tuesday (check out our time lapse video here), I am excited to share Stanton’s Midwest debut.

Ryan Nowlin & Stanton’s band guru Kent White

While exhibit hall traffic was light on our first day, things began to pick up after 1:00 pm as more band and orchestra directors, students and parents began to arrive. As always, it is fun to see some of our Ohio and Kentucky friends and educators at national (and international) conferences. Band directors from Westerville, New Bremen, Lexington (OH), and Louisville, KY were among some of the familiar faces on the first day, along with Ohio State, Capital, and Baldwin Wallace having booths here as well. In addition, we were thrilled to be visited by composer and Columbus native Roger Cichy, educator and 2014 Capital Reading Clinic guest Paula Crider, and Ohio native and staff arranger for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Ryan Nowlin. Stay tuned for a Q&A post with First Lieutenant Nowlin in the near future!

Of course, professional conferences are about making new friends and bringing sheet music to the masses, but they are also great opportunities to speak with our publisher representatives (and sometimes CEOs!) face-to-face about new music, textbooks, and other products, talk about specific ways to improve service, and catch some music industry scoop.

The day was capped off with excellent food. The Stanton’s staff is happy to recommend RBC Steakhouse, and Café Bionda where I had fantastic southern Italian cuisine (and gelato!).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for our Day 2 recap tomorrow!

About the AuthorKen is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. He is excited to introduce his son to some favorite Christmas specials this year including How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. Vintage!

The holidays are already upon us. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas and Hanukkah are just around the corner. For the Stanton’s staff it means that convention season is also here! This winter we will be exhibiting (and selling!) music at music educators’ professional conferences in New York (NYSSMA), Michigan (MMC), Ohio (OMEA), Kentucky (KMEA), and, for the first time, The Midwest Clinic. These conferences are a great opportunity to talk shop directly with our expert staff, meet customers face-to-face that we may recognize by name (and voice!), and besides, it gets us out of the store! Ever wonder how our 6-8 booths of music get to your state conference? Check out the slideshow below to see how we pull, pack, and transport thousands of sheet music titles and accessory items, and if we’re exhibiting at your conference be sure to stop by the Stanton’s booth (under the big blue balloon) and say “hello”!

About the Author:
Ken is a former band director, and has been with Stanton’s since 2004. All he wants for Christmas is a Pittsburgh Penguins tuque, Guardians of the Galaxy on blu-ray, and some heavy-duty outerwear so he can play in the snow with his son this winter!

At Stanton’s, we know you have many choices when it comes to purchasing sheet music. Over the course of June and July, we highlighted a few of the many reasons why Stanton’s is the best place to buy music for your school, church, private studio or personal use, and we’d like to add one more reason to your list.

Sometimes customer needs and requests require some lateral thought and creativity. A local choral director was in the store this fall, and ventured over to The Dark Side (read: Band Department) because our band department handles our music theory books and software. “I have a Theory 2 student. She’s a flute player, and we’re looking to study the classical period and composition. Do you have anything?” Each of her Theory 2 students is doing an individual study on specific areas of interest to them.

Our first thought was, “We don’t have anything that is specific to the classical period. No specific theory books, no analysis, and only a page or two of history in the Kjos Music Theory & History Workbooks.” The next thought was, “What DO we have? Is there anything that could work?”

“I’ve got it – Flute player + Classical Period = the Mozart Flute Concerti! Both are on the Ohio Class A flute list, so she could use one of them for her theory class, AND private study/OMEA adjudication. She would have the added benefit of having studied and analyzed the work while she learns and performs it!”

Wait a minute – composition and analysis…Dover has a score of all of the Mozart Concerti for Wind Instruments, and their scores are very reasonably priced. Now we’re talking – both flute concerti should be in there along with the concerti for bassoon, clarinet, and horn.

“What about using the Dover score for study and analysis? She could see the original orchestration, how the flute part works in context with the orchestra, and study how the original orchestration was translated into the piano reduction for the solo edition. This is perfect!”

Needless to say, this could not have worked out better for our customer, and her student. Can your sheet music supplier provide this depth of thought and expertise? More importantly, will they take the time? If not, give Stanton’s a try. We’re more than a store or website; we’re an experienced, knowledgeable, and thoughtful staff that has made Stanton’s the “Sheet Music Specialists” for over 50 years!

Here at Stanton’s, we’re aware of the rising number of music teachers working outside of their specialty. Cutbacks have forced many instrumental specialists to begin teaching choir-but never fear! In this series, we will try to give some advice on where to start, as well as recommending some “tried and true” products that will help you become a great choral educator!

Just when you’ve gotten comfortable with the daily running of your choral group(s), it’s time to begin preparing for Solo and Ensemble festivals. The general procedures for vocal and instrumental music are often similar, but there are some differences that new choral teachers should be aware of. This post will focus on small ensembles.

Conducting-Depending on the size of the ensemble, a conductor may or may not be allowed, so consider the difficulty of entrances and phrase endings when choosing music. Be sure to have at least one student who is able to give small conducting gestures for starting, stopping, and changes of tempo.

Doubling Parts-Unlike a brass quintet or a flute trio, most vocal ensembles allow for parts to be doubled. Usually there is a limit to the number of singers in an ensemble, but more than one singer may be on a part.

Pianists-Don’t forget to engage an accompanist for your groups. Unless they are singing a cappella, vocal groups will need an accomplished accompanist. If you must use a CD or electronic accompaniment, be sure your selection has a CD available.

Literature-Small vocal ensembles use the same music as a large choir of the same voicing. For example, a 3 part women’s ensemble (SSA) could use the same music as your women’s choir; a mixed group could use the same SATB music as your mixed choir. Not all pieces work well for small groups though, so use your state’s music list as a guide or check our website for suggestions .

As always, individual states’ rules vary. Please check your state rule book for more information.

Still not sure what to choose? Don’t be shy about asking for help, especially if you are new to the choral world. As always, the experienced choral directors at Stanton’s are thrilled to help you select materials, make recommendations, or give advice. Contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, extension 1 or visit our store. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Here at Stanton’s, we’re aware of the rising number of music teachers working outside of their specialty. Cutbacks have forced many instrumental specialists to begin teaching choir-but never fear! In this series, we will try to give some advice on where to start, as well as recommending some “tried and true” products that will help you become a great choral educator!

Just when you’ve gotten comfortable with the daily running of your choral group(s), it’s time to begin preparing for Solo and Ensemble festivals. The general procedures for vocal and instrumental music are often similar, but there are some differences that new choral teachers should be aware of. This post will focus on solo literature.

Memorization-Unlike instrumental events, vocal events must be memorized. Though a piece might seem easy on the surface, the memorization of text and/or musical elements can be an issue for some. Consider the number of verses, language, and the difficulty of entrances or phrase endings when thinking about a student’s ability to memorize.

Pianists-An accomplished accompanist is extremely important, especially when young singers are involved. While a live accompanist is always best, many standard vocal collections now come with a CD. This can be an invaluable tool for a student who may not get much rehearsal time with an accompanist or instructor. Click here to see a selection of collections available with accompaniment CD’s.

Literature-While most instrumental solos are available as singles, most vocal literature can be found in collections. These budget-stretching books can have many solos that appear on your state list, often at different difficulty levels and/or in different ranges. Don’t forget to order an original copy for the accompanist as well. Click here to see our best-selling vocal collections. For students in junior high/middle school, check out our previous blog post on this topic.

As always, individual states’ rules vary. Please check your state rule book for more information.

Still not sure which collections to invest in? Don’t be shy about asking for help, especially if you are new to the choral world. As always, the experienced choral directors at Stanton’s are thrilled to help you select materials, make recommendations, or give advice. Contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, extension 1 or visit our store. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Acknowledged by many Music Historians as the 20th Century’s best songwriters, The Beatles wrote songs that still retain their popularity and substance after nearly 50 years. Now your young band musicians can learn and enjoy the catchy melodies, colorful harmonies and rhythmic hooks of some of The Beatles’ best offerings.

In a versatile book format that contains both full concert band and individual instrument arrangements, this Essential Elements-correlated collection gives first and second year students an introduction to eleven exciting titles from The Fab Four. An optional CD contains a full recording of the band arrangements and additional tracks for use as accompaniments to the solo versions of the songs. A piano accompaniment book is also available.

Each student book has both a band part and a solo melody part, allowing the chance for even the “color” instruments, like oboe, horn and euphonium, to play the actual tune. Johnnie Vinson, John Moss and Robert Longfield did the outstanding and educationally-oriented arrangements that are correlated page for page with the Essential Elements Band Method Books, spanning from Book 1, Page 24 to Book 2 page 32.

People have been clamoring for a band instrument Beatles book for a number of years and due to various copyright restrictions, none have been available recently until this one. So now you and your students can relive the 1960’s British Invasion with more than a touch of music education along with it! It’s your Ticket to Ride, Here There and Everywhere!

Solo and section features with band accompaniment are very specialized programming choices, and, therefore, do not receive a lot of attention or fanfare. Even so, we do receive phone calls asking what is available to feature a specific instrument or section. 2013-14 is a particularly full year with a half-dozen each of NEW solo and section features, so we decided to highlight them to make your spring programming a little easier. If these are not exactly what you’re looking for, or if you want to feature an instrument/section that is not listed here, head on over to our concert band page, and click on the Solo, Section, & Ensemble Features link to view complete listings by instrument/section, and continue to shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!

Choosing music for solo singers at the middle school level can be challenging. Students often have limited vocal range, difficulty with long phrases, or light voices that are easily overpowered by a thick piano accompaniment. Many appropriate selections for beginning soloists can be found in the following collections, great for solo and ensemble competitions, recitals or even church performance.

“Let Nature Sing” is the newest volume in a series for young singers from BriLee Music. It contains a wide variety of songs, from spirituals and folk songs to originally composed works, all by female composers. Selected with the treble voice in mind, songs with narrow ranges of six and seven notes progress to songs that expand the range as the voice develops. The nature of the selections is to challenge the voice, not to tax it, to develop its expressive capabilities, not to over-extend it.

The fourth in a series of solo song volumes for young singers, “Tales of Land and Sea” contains spirituals, folk songs and originally composed works by Mark Patterson. The selections are especially compiled, arranged, and composed for the male changing voice. Songs progress from the “just changing” voice, to selections for young tenors, and finally, to songs for the young baritone. The included CD contains both vocal demo and instrumental tracks for all 10 pieces in the book.

“15 Easy Folksong Arrangements”(available in both Low and High voice,) is designed for those students in the early stages of voice study. The ranges are modest, and songs have been chosen for both genders. The new arrangements are lovely, fresh and interesting, but keep the simple vocal line in the forefront. The piano accompaniments were deliberately designed for an intermediate level player. The CD is included as a learning tool, and a piano accompaniment track for practice. Also available in this series are “15 Easy Spiritual Arrangements” (Low and High) and “15 Easy Christmas Carol Arrangements” (Low and High.)

For more advanced singers in this age group, consider “Daffodils, Violets and Snowflakes” (available in Low and High voice.) Joan Frey Boytim has compiled this collection especially for young women singers. The 24 songs – excellent literature for the young classical singer – have been chosen not only for the vocal ability of pre-teens and young teens, but also for the tastes and sensibilities of this age group.